Читать книгу Twelve Months with the Eighth Massachusetts Infantry in the Service of the United States - Harry Endicott Webber - Страница 4

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To the officers and men of the Eighth Massachusetts Infantry, U. S. V.:—

I have been requested by the author, Mr. Harry E. Webber, to write some account of the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, while under my command during the Spanish-American war.

I reported for duty in Chickamauga Park, June 20th, 1898, and was assigned to the Second Brigade, First Division of the First Corps, consisting of the Third Illinois, Fourth Pennsylvania, and Fourth Ohio Regiments. These were all good regiments, especially the Fourth Pennsylvania, under Colonel David B. Case. As I expected to remain with this brigade throughout the war, I began an inspection by company, battalion, and regiment, so that I might learn something more about their actual condition, and the capacity of the officers than could be learned on parade. I mention this circumstance, not because it concerns the Eighth Massachusetts, but because the information I gathered was of the greatest use to me later on in dealing with other volunteer regiments.

I did not complete this inspection, however, as on the 28th of June, I was assigned to the command of the Third Division of the First Corps, composed of the Twelfth Minnesota, Fifth Pennsylvania, First South Carolina, Eighth Massachusetts, Twelfth New York, Twenty-First Kansas, Ninth Pennsylvania, Second Missouri, and First New Hampshire. Subsequently, during the changes and vicissitudes which occurred, there were assigned or attached to this Division, the Third United States Volunteers, Engineers, the Fifth Missouri, the One Hundred and Sixtieth Indiana, the Second, Third and Fourth Kentucky, Third Mississippi, First Territorial, and the Third and Fourth Immune Regiments of Infantry, and one squadron of the First Kentucky Cavalry,—so that I had ample opportunity to observe and compare different volunteer regiments.

The Eighth Massachusetts arrived in the Park May 19th, and came under my observation about one month later, and before I joined the Third Division. It was the only volunteer regiment I saw fully uniformed in khaki. As this dress was new to me, it attracted my attention at once, and I rode over twice to the Second Brigade of the Third Division for a better look at the regiment, which, needless to say, made a very favorable impression.

As will doubtless be remembered, the Third Division remained in the Park until the 21st of August, when it was transferred to Lexington, Kentucky, where it went into camp on the Bryan road at Clark's Farm, about five miles east of the city. There it remained until November 4th, its official designation was changed by orders from the War Department, to the Second Division, First Army Corps, and on the 10th it was ordered to Georgia, the Headquarters Signal Company, Third United States Volunteers, Engineers, and First Brigade to Columbus, the Second Brigade to Americus, and the Third Brigade to Albany. At this time the Second Brigade consisted of the Eighth Massachusetts, Twelfth New York and Fourth Kentucky, under Brigadier General Waites, U. S. V. The Fourth Kentucky was ordered to be mustered out, leaving the other two regiments to compose the Brigade, and this arrangement was not changed while the Division remained in service.

On the 16th of November I was relieved from the command of the Second Division and ordered to the Second Brigade, relieving General Waites, and was thus brought into closer contact with the Eighth Massachusetts. The Brigade remained in Americus until November 26th when, under orders from the War Department, the headquarters, the Brigade Hospital and the Twelfth New York Regiment, were ordered to Charleston, S. C. en route to Matanzas, Cuba, where it arrived January 1st.

A few days later the Eighth Massachusetts rejoined, and not long thereafter the One Hundred and Sixtieth Indiana, Third Kentucky, Tenth United States Infantry, and six troops of the Second United States Cavalry which composed the garrison of the city and district of Matanzas, and the Second Brigade of the Second Division of the First Army Corps, practically ceased to exist. When the Third Division became the Second Division, Major General Ludlow was assigned to command it. He remained in command until December 17th when I was ordered to relieve him. I rejoined the Second Brigade in Americus December 26th and went with it to Cuba.

The Eighth remained in Matanzas until April 4, 1899, when it sailed for Boston, where it was mustered out of the service of the United States, and reverted to its status as a regiment of the National Guard. While it was not given to the Eighth Massachusetts to undergo the supreme test of the battlefield, it proved beyond the shadow of a doubt by its calm indifference to death in other forms and its devotion to duty, that it would have met that test with a glorified record of good discipline and steadfast courage. Who among all of those who had the misfortune to remain in Chickamauga Park through the summer of 1898, will ever forget the trials and dangers of that encampment? From forty to sixty thousand men huddled together within an area not too large for a sedentary camp of two divisions.[1]

Prior to August 1st the camps of all the regiments of the Third Division, were in the woods with an average of from six to eight men in a tent, many of which were unfit for occupancy. Polluted water, insufficient supplies and protection from the incessant rains of that year, and the fact that neither the camp nor the tents were ever moved, from lack of space, produced their inevitable result, and when the Third Division left the Park, August 21st, there were twenty-nine officers and 1237 enlisted men on the sick report, out of 337 officers and 9464 men present; or, in other words, one officer out of twelve and one man out of eight. Although questioned at the time by those high in authority, it is now well known that a large proportion of the sick had typhoid fever; in fact it was epidemic.[2]

My recollections of Chickamauga Park are not pleasant for reasons which I cannot very well explain here. It is sufficient to say that I was fully cognizant of the wretched conditions which sent the sick report higher each day and subjected the sick in hospital to needless privation and suffering, but was powerless to prevent or ameliorate them. In fact, for administrative purposes, I was very little more than a figure head, although held responsible by the regiments, whose appeals for a relief which never came while we remained in the Park, were most distressing to me. At that time the collapse of the war had not been foreseen, and although the Spanish forces in the eastern district of Santiago, Cuba had capitulated July 16, it was not until the protocol of August 12th, providing for a cessation of hostilities, that we felt the war was over and that the Third Division would probably never fire a hostile shot. In the meantime, however, under the orders of the Corps Commander, the Division was held in readiness to move at a moment's notice, and every effort was made to prepare it for service against the Spaniards.

To this end, and on the day after I assumed the command, orders were issued to prepare the Division for active service in accordance with the instructions of the War Department. These prescribed the clothing, ammunition, and rations to be carried on the person and in the two wagons allowed each company,—all other clothing and all other personal belongings of the men to be packed in boxes legibly marked with the company and regiment, and turned over to the depot quartermaster for storage or shipment. To render the officers and men expert in packing, and to determine just what could be carried under the instructions referred to, each regiment was required to strike tents and pack up, after which it was marched to the regimental parade grounds, followed by its wagons, and inspected by the Brigade Commander. It was well understood that all regimental and company property which had not been disposed of when marching orders were received, must be abandoned.

As up to the time I assumed command of the Division there had been no target practice, on July 1, Major Edward H. Eldredge, of the Eighth Massachusetts, was appointed Inspector of Rifle Practice, and preparations were at once made to begin target practice. Nothing could have been more fortunate than the selection of the major for this most important branch of instruction. Conscientious, enthusiastic, and thoroughly competent, he had the target ranges established, and the Division at work firing within a week, and this was continued daily (Sunday excepted), until just before the Division left the Park.

On July 26 a division rifle competition was held, each regiment furnishing a team of 12 men; ten shots were fired off hand by each man, at 160 yards (possible score 600 points). The highest score was made by the Eighth Massachusetts with 481 points; the lowest score was 409.

In the course of the instruction it was found that many men had never fired a gun and were correspondingly ignorant of this most important requirement. What would they have done in the line of battle? Well, I will tell you. Those who were not killed would have been perfectly demoralized until they either ran away or perhaps were wounded, in which case they would have added vastly to the cares of the Division Commander and his medical staff. In either case, they would have been of no possible use except as stretcher bearers. Nothing could be more objectionable on the part of the high military authorities than to send such men under fire, and there is no possible excuse for it.

Other measures taken to prepare the Division for active service were careful instruction in guard duty, the service of advance guards and outposts, by battalions and regiments; litter drill and "first aid."

As it was rumored that the First Corps would be sent against Havana, orders were issued for the formation of a pioneer detachment in each regiment to consist of one officer, two non-commissioned officers and ten privates, to be specially selected for their practical knowledge of the duties of pioneers, viz: the removal of obstructions, corduroying roads, the building, repair and destruction of simple bridges, culverts, railroad beds and embankments, and the use of high explosives. No difficulty whatever was experienced in finding the men who in the discharge of their duties rendered most valuable services to the Division.

To give the brigade and regimental commanders some idea of the difficulty of forming the Division in line of battle on broken and obstructed ground, and to exercise the officers and men in preserving the line, supplying ammunition, and caring for the wounded,—problems in which the entire Division took part, were carried out practically.

Many of you will doubtless remember those exercises and how difficult it was to form the Division in line without wide gaps between brigades, or to move it in any direction without breaking the formation. These problems, although extremely simple, were of great benefit as a relief to the monotony of drill, and in testing the field efficiency of the medical and ordinance services.

In the meantime, the Corps Commander, with the First Division of the Corps, left the Park en route to Cuba and Porto Rico, and on August 15th I went to Lexington to select a camp for the Third Division, in which the typhoid had spread rapidly, and on August 21st, the movement to Lexington began. Although we left between three and four hundred men in the hospital when we moved to Lexington, the Division was so thoroughly impregnated with this disease and with malarial fever that more cases were inevitable, and the hospital of 1000 beds, which was established in anticipation of this very contingency, proved inadequate, and but for the timely removal of the convalescents to other places, would have needed a large extension. Those of the regiment now living will not have forgotten the struggle which then took place to stamp out the typhoid fever. It was a fight to a finish, in which every available means known to medical and sanitary science was used during a period of three months.

For the information of those members of the regiment who have joined since the war with Spain, and because it was the most serious condition which confronted the regiment during its service in the field, I venture to give some account of our efforts to overcome this dread disease.

In selecting and arranging the site of the Division encampment, I was influenced more by sanitary requirements than by any other considerations whatever. To the camp of each regiment fifty acres of cleared land were allowed. This insured wide company streets, sufficient space between tents to admit of their being moved, plenty of room for the regimental and battalion staffs, guard tents, cook tents, sinks, corrals, and regimental parade grounds, with sufficient isolation from neighboring regiments.

Ground was also set aside for division and brigade headquarters, and for a general parade ground, the division hospital and the various departments of supply, and these were far enough removed from each other and the troops to prevent any encroachment. All told, the Division occupied about 1000 acres.

The different camps were then laid out by the division engineer, aided by the pioneer corps, and a copious supply of pure water secured, and all the sinks (kitchen and men's), were dug, ditched and housed, and tent floors made ready before the first regiment of the Division arrived, so that there was no occasion for defiling the ground or for unnecessary exposure to the weather.

As soon as practicable after the regiments arrived, the following sanitary orders were carried into effect. A non-commissioned officer was placed in charge of every sink, who received his instructions from the regimental surgeon as to the use of chloride of lime, quick lime, crude petroleum and corrosive sublimate, large quantities of which were provided by the medical purveyor and chief quartermaster of the Division.

For example, a box of the chloride of lime was kept in each of the men's sinks and it was the duty of the non-commissioned officer in charge to see that a small quantity was thrown into the sink three times daily, and that the sink floors were scrubbed every morning and then mopped with a solution of corrosive sublimate. All the men's sinks were lighted at night. Quick-lime and crude petroleum were also used in all the sinks, not only as disinfectants, but to keep the flies away.

Tents were moved once each week, the sites vacated thoroughly sprinkled with quick-lime, the under surface of the floors lime washed, and the tent floors mopped with a solution of corrosive sublimate; tent walls were raised, clothing and bedding thoroughly aired daily; all bed sacks were filled with clean straw, the old straw burned, and the bed sacks boiled every month, and whenever a man was sent to the hospital his bed sack received the same treatment; all water barrels were burned out every two weeks, all stable manure removed from the camp daily, and together with all other refuse, burned, and for this purpose regimental or brigade crematories were constructed as might be most convenient.

Facilities were provided in each company for washing and bathing and every soldier was required to bathe at least twice each week and to keep his hair and beard neatly trimmed. All drinking water was boiled and filtered and the men cautioned against drinking water of any other kind.

The indiscriminate sale and use of farm products, garden truck, fruit, pies, cakes, and all soft drinks were prohibited, nor were hucksters permitted in any of the regimental camps without the written authority of the commanding officer.

To insure the execution of these instructions, a division sanitary inspector was appointed, whose duty it was to visit the camp of each regiment daily and, together with the medical officer on duty and officer of the day, make inspection of the police of the camp, giving all needful orders for the correction of sanitary abuses and defects.

As no regimental hospitals were contemplated by the War Department, and none were permitted in Camp Hamilton, men sick enough to require treatment in bed were removed to the division hospital. On arriving there their clothing was removed and carefully disinfected, labeled and packed away, and if their cases were of doubtful character they were sent to the detention ward until the nature of their disease could be determined, when they were disposed of accordingly.

At 2 P. M. daily a medical officer of each regiment reported at the division hospital, and with the medical officer in charge of the wards, visited the sick of his regiment and decided whether they should be returned to duty or not. This had a very good effect, as it brought the medical officers of the regiment into daily contact with the sick of their own regiments, which was a great comfort to them, and besides kept the medical officers fully informed of their condition.

As far as possible the sick of the different regiments were kept together, and no one except the regimental and company commanders, the medical officers, chaplains, and immediate relatives of the sick were allowed to visit them. This restriction was rendered necessary by the danger of infection in typhoid cases, and to prevent the excitement and noise caused by visitors.

I am aware that many of the requirements and restrictions ordered at that time were considered harsh and unnecessary and gave rise to some bad feeling and grumbling, but as they had the unqualified approval of the medical staff, I had no hesitation in enforcing them. That they were fully justified was clearly shown by the results.

Within a short time after our arrival in Lexington the number of sick increased so rapidly that the division hospital was filled to overflowing. But in the course of five or six weeks, and as a consequence of our strenuous efforts, the number began to diminish, until finally, and before the Division moved to Georgia in November, not a single case remained in the Division outside of the hospitals, and no new cases were ever reported to me while the Division remained in service.

Of the part taken by the Eighth Massachusetts in this heroic struggle, a great deal might be written by way of commendation. It is probably sufficient to say that Colonel Pew and his officers appeared to realize fully the gravity of the situation, and relying on the good discipline and high order of intelligence of the rank and file, had but little difficulty in carrying out the sanitary regulations of the camp, thus preserving the lives of many of the men.

Before leaving this subject, and at the risk of exhausting your patience, I can not refrain from giving you a word of warning. Of all the diseases which infest sedentary camps, such as those established in the United States and Cuba during the recent war, none is more insidious or deadly in its effects than typhoid fever.

It would be very unusual indeed for a regiment of the National Guard or of Volunteers to assemble in camp at any time without bringing with it at least one case of undeveloped typhoid fever. Now, a week may elapse before such a case is discovered and reported, and in the meantime the man who has it may have given it to a dozen other men through fecal and urinary discharges, and through carelessness in using the sink in washing his hands and bathing, and in keeping his clothing absolutely free from that kind of pollution. Hence the importance of personal cleanliness and the strictest enforcement of all the sanitary rules which may be established.

In a camp of regular soldiers thoroughly instructed in the duties of sentinels, and not afraid to enforce their orders, this is not difficult, but among volunteers where guard duty is often not understood, or is looked upon with disfavor, and but little sense of individual responsibility, it is a very difficult matter, and such camps may speedily and easily become hot beds for the spread of typhoid and other diseases.

Bear this in mind and resolve that should the exigencies of the military service ever require you to go into camp again, you will not only keep yourselves clean, but will insist on a clean camp, clean kitchens and sinks, clean food and mess kits, and that you will mercilessly punish all infractions of sanitary rules, as well as the sentinels or other guards who knowingly permit them.

I remained in command of the Second Division until November 16th, when I was relieved, and on the 21st assumed command of the Second Brigade at Americus. Although I knew the Eighth Massachusetts quite well, I now determined to know it thoroughly, and on November 28th, commenced an inspection of the regiment by battalion, and in order that every officer and enlisted man might attend, it was ordered that no guard or other detail would be furnished by the battalion under inspection.

I began with the First Battalion of the Eighth Massachusetts and wound up with the Third Battalion, giving each just such a critical inspection as was prescribed for regulars. In other words, I made a careful examination of the arms and equipments, clothing, camp and garrison equipage, mess books, records and drills of each company, battalion and regiment.

Target practice was resumed as soon as the Brigade was settled in camp, and each regiment was given the most careful and detailed instruction in outpost duties and those of the advanced guard. An effort was also made to instruct the Brigade in the principles of a front and flank attack, beginning at short distances, which were extended finally to 3000 yards over obstructed ground, the enemy's position being indicated, and as far as possible the exercises made as realistic as possible.

The month spent at Americus was full of professional interest and profit, and caused me to realize more fully the very great advantage of a brigade camp over larger ones, and how much better it would have been at the outset to have fully equipped each regiment in its State camp, to then have assembled it with other regiments in a brigade camp—preferably in the same State—commanded by a thoroughly competent and active general officer, there to receive the preliminary instruction so easily given under such circumstances, and so next to impossible in the camp of a Division of an army corps.

The Eighth Massachusetts and Twelfth New York were fairly well equipped when I joined them in the Park, but the First South Carolina regiment was without arms, equipment or uniforms. The men ate with their fingers for several weeks, and relied on such crude dishes as could be improvised from tomato-cans, etc. I have no doubt that much of the complaint made by this regiment about the rations, was chiefly due to this.

The Eighth Massachusetts in two detachments left Americus January 6th and 8th, and arrived in Matanzas January 10th and 13th and went into camp near Fort San Severino on the west side of the bay.

On the 12th of January the last of the fifteen thousand Spanish soldiers under Generals Merina and Molina, composing the garrison of Matanzas, sailed away, and about 8 o'clock in the evening, General Bettancourt and his detachment of insurgent troops marched into the city, which went wild with excitement. The First Battalion Eighth Massachusetts and Twelfth New York were held in readiness that night lest there should be any hostile demonstration towards the Spanish residents of the city. It turned out that the natives were so intent on celebrating the departure of the Spanish troops that no attention was paid to anything else, and apart from that the night passed quietly.

On January 12th Major-General J. H. Wilson relieved me from command of the Department of Matanzas, and on the following day I was assigned to command the District of Matanzas with headquarters in the city. Up to this time I had been interested chiefly in arranging for the evacuation of the Spaniards, in caring for the troops, and getting them settled in camp.

On January 5th a bureau of street cleaning and sanitation had been established as the result of a careful inspection of the city, and the prevalence of yellow fever during the preceding month. Six deaths had occurred, and we were all somewhat solicitous about the future. Two cases occurred, one a civilian who died, the other a soldier, who recovered.

As a precautionary measure the old yellow fever hospital was burned and a new one of canvas erected near the district hospital. I then gave my attention to the very serious and delicate duties connected with the administration of the District and City of Matanzas, in accordance with the laws of war, and the orders of the President.

Although by virtue of the military occupation of Cuba martial law prevailed, it was the President's wish that as far as possible the inhabitants might be secured in their persons, and property, and in all their private rights and relations as long as they performed their duties, and that they be protected in their homes, their employments, and in the free exercise of their religion. That as far as possible the municipal laws such as related to the private rights of persons and property, and provided for the punishment of crime, should be continued in force, to be administered by the ordinary tribunals substantially as they were before the occupation.

The frame work of municipal government in Cuba was excellent, far better in some respects than our own, but Spaniards filled nearly all the insular, provincial and municipal offices and municipal government was under the direct supervision of the provincial and insular governments. Nevertheless, the municipal organization was complete, excellent of its kind, and ample for the government of the city and district, and I determined at the outset to instil into the local authorities a proper sense of their responsibilities and authority as the agent of a free and liberal government, and to require them to perform all their duties, using the troops only when necessary to aid their efforts to maintain law and order and to prevent any disorderly conduct on the part of the officers or men. To this end a provost marshal with a suitable guard was appointed and Fort San Severino was converted into a military prison.

The scope of this article will not admit of a detailed account of all that was done for the people and City of Matanzas during our stay there. It is probably sufficient to say that we cleaned and disinfected the city and established a system of sanitation so thorough that a recent traveler through the island told me that Matanzas was the cleanest and healthiest city in Cuba, and that there had been no case of yellow fever there since we left. To accomplish this a certain number of our officers and non-commissioned officers and men associated with the various city officials, who were, however, required to take the lead, the officers acting as advisers and assistants when necessary.

Matanzas was suffering at that time from the effects of the reconcentration ordered by General Weyler, and the population has been increased from about 25,000 to 40,000, chiefly refugees. As soon as it could be done these people were returned to their old homes, or provided with homes elsewhere. In the meantime, they, together with all other indigent poor, to the number of 19,373, were fed by the United States Government. Prior to this many—chiefly children—died of starvation, and many more would have followed but for the timely arrival of the troops.

Some idea of what was done by the Army for the people of Matanzas may be gathered from the vital statistics of the city. During the year 1897 there were 6,729 recorded deaths, and in 1898, 5,972, or an average of 6,350 or over 500 deaths per month. In April, 1899, the last report rendered before we left showed a total of 68 deaths, quite a perceptible decrease in four months. I have enlarged somewhat on this subject because the results of our efforts were so gratifying, and because the Eighth Massachusetts took an important part in this work, especially Chaplain George D. Sanders.

Another most useful and special service rendered by the Eighth was a settlement of the first strike ever inaugurated in Matanzas. Labor unions and strikes were unknown before American occupation, but it was not long before labor union delegates from the States arrived in Havana, and soon unions were formed and rumors of strikes reached Matanzas, to be followed later by two delegates who organized a union and started a strike for shorter hours and higher pay among the employees of the railway and the stevedores engaged in loading the annual sugar crop, then arriving in vast quantities. As a large number of the native workmen did not care to strike, those who did immediately began the kind of intimidation usually resorted to in this country, and several were assaulted and more threatened, and the situation became serious.

At this point the manager of the road appealed to me for protection and I sent two companies of the Eighth to the freight yards to see that protection was given. I gave no instructions but relied on the experience and good sense of the officers and men, and they ended the strike to my entire satisfaction. No doubt they can recall the circumstances, and the very effective measures resorted to.

That they were good and sufficient may be inferred from the fact that no one ever complained of them, except the two delegates, and they were told they could go to jail or leave town, which latter they did by the first available train, and peace and contentment prevailed thereafter to the end.

On the 20th of January commenced the festivities to celebrate the evacuation of Cuba by the Spaniards, and on February 22nd another fiesta was held in honor of General Maximo Gomez, at that time the idol of the Cubans. Upon both occasions the entire population thronged the streets and the greatest excitement prevailed. General Gomez remained in Matanzas three days, and with his departure the city settled down into its usual calm.

Thanks to the tact and excellent conduct of the troops, nothing occurred to disturb the festivities; the crowds were handled with great skill and with due regard to their susceptibilities and their first taste of personal liberty—not only as individuals but as a community. And to the very great honor of the troops it may be said that this was ever the rule in dealing with the residents of the city, no complaint of misconduct, public or private, having ever been made to me.

The Eighth Massachusetts was especially fortunate in gaining the good will of the Cubans, and when it left Matanzas was the recipient of a letter of enthusiastic commendation from the mayor of the city. A copy of the letter was sent to me, and the very complimentary expressions of the mayor were neither exaggerated nor unmerited. The regiment deserved a great deal from the people of Matanzas, and it was very gratifying to me to know that they appreciated your services.

I regret that in this brief sketch I have not been able to go more into detail concerning the duties, the trials and successful achievements of the Eighth Massachusetts during the Spanish War. It is sufficient for me to say as your brigade and division commander, that while we were together, a day rarely passed that I did not ride through your camp, turn out the guard and take a general look around, and on every Sunday make a careful inspection, and it gives me the greatest pleasure to say that in point of efficiency the regiment had few equals, and no superiors, among the volunteer regiments which came under my observation.

Proper esprit de corps and a high sense of duty pervaded the regiment, due in great measure to the excellent example of Colonel Pew and his field officers, Lieutenant-Colonels Bailey and Stopford and Majors Eldredge and Graves. During the summer of 1907 I visited the regiment in camp at South Framingham and was glad to note that the instruction and the experience of the war had not been forgotten.

In conclusion I beg to remind you that while all military efforts should be directed towards the preparation of soldiers for the great tests of the battlefield, because so much may depend on the result, there are other tests which if successfully borne, entitle soldiers to as much credit as good conduct under fire, although they may not bring them as much renown.

Among disciplined soldiers it is the exception to find one who does not behave well under fire, but it by no means follows that the bravest will not falter in their duty if beset in a sedentary camp with plague, pestilence or famine. It is not as much of a strain on the nerves to see a soldier killed in battle as to see him die of an epidemic disease, nor do I believe it is as hard for the soldier. When a soldier goes under fire, he is facing the very contingency for which he enlisted and for which he has been trained. He knows he may be shot and wounded or killed, but his duty lies unequivocally before him and appeals directly to his pride and to his manhood in a way disease can never do. Who will say then that the men who fought the battle of San Juan deserved more credit than those who died from typhoid fever while acting as volunteer nurses to their comrades or in the discharge of other duties, when by getting a furlough or running away they could have avoided all risk. The excitement of battle and the example of brave men have made a hero of many a man who but for that would have run away.

But in a typhoid fever camp death lurks everywhere and there is no stimulating excitement to strengthen those who have to face it.

Therefore the highest honors should not be given solely to those soldiers who are so fortunate as to do their duty under fire, but to those as well who do their duty where-ever they may be, regardless of consequences, and in all the circumstances which may attend them.

Do not therefore complain, as I have heard some of you do, or tinge your recollections of the war with regret, because you did not take part in the only battle that was fought, but, hoping for better luck next time, find supreme satisfaction in the reflection that you did your whole duty in places where death was quite as imminent as on San Juan Hill, and that no other regiment, regular or volunteer, could have done more.

J. P. Sanger,

Major General, U. S. A., Retired.